Left high and dry by mold

Dave Bowman, Daily Press

Aaron Tragle and Dwayne Ward, a supervisor for Peerless, look over the crowded garage filled with cabinets that is infected with black mold on the bottoms and backs of the storage units. The doors will be salvaged, but most of the units will be destroyed.

Aaron Tragle and Dwayne Ward, a supervisor for Peerless, look over the crowded garage filled with cabinets that is infected with black mold on the bottoms and backs of the storage units. The doors will be salvaged, but most of the units will be destroyed. (Dave Bowman, Daily Press)

KATHY VAN MULLEKOM247-4781

Storm flooding is a nightmare that haunts coastal residents. There's the damage, the cleanup and the threat of unhealthy mold growing everywhere.

Yet, everyday events in a kitchen or laundry room can cause mold to develop with or without you realizing it.

Couples in York County and Hampton discovered that recently - one after buying a home, one after heading off to work. They share their stories, warning you to read the fine print in legal documents when you buy a home and to pay closer attention to how the icemaker and washing machine perform.

What does "newly remodeled" really mean?

After Aaron and Lee Anne Tragle moved here from Atlanta in November, they wrote a contract to purchase a house in the Running Man neighborhood of York. The house, built in the late 1980s, featured a "newly remodeled kitchen," complete with Corian counters and a new tile floor, according to the couple.

When Jamison Brown of AmeriSpec Home Inspection Services of Poquoson looked at the house, he found evidence of Stachybotrys, a black mold that plagues houses, he says. He gave the Tragles a 12-page report on the structure.

The homeowner hired another mold specialist to inspect the home, and a second inspection was done two weeks prior to closing, according to the Tragles. The couple says they received no written reports from those last inspections. Instead, Aaron says he was told no active mold infestation was found and that a preventative fungicide had been sprayed in the crawlspace.

"I thought that was it, so I never gave it another thought," says Aaron.

At closing in the attorney's office, the Tragles signed all the closing documents. They didn't read each paragraph on every page, assuming it was all standard language. Now, they wish they had seen the one paragraph warning that the house had a serious mold condition.

"Our closing attorney never informed us of the letter that was sent to his office from the office of the mold inspection company," says Aaron. "By acknowledging that paragraph with our signatures, we made our legal battle that much harder."

While preparing the house for painting, the Tragles developed persistent dry coughs and occasional stomach cramping. Their daughter, Lexie, 2 at the time, had nosebleeds; son Tommy, 4, coughed too much.

"At that point, we thought we'd caught something," says Lee Anne.

While they worked, they pulled out the stove in the kitchen and were alarmed when they saw the back was all black with mold.

"Right then and there I know this is not good," says Aaron. "The whole house is done in wallpaper, and the paste is a food source for mold."

Wallpaper professionals finished stripping the walls and found a moldy area behind the refrigerator. They recommended the Tragles get the house tested for mold. McKee Environmental Inc. of Virginia Beach assessed the house, finding toxic mold in the walls, ducts and subflooring of the kitchen. Moisture damage extended beyond that area. No water leaks were found, but McKee believes the water supply line to the icemaker was the culprit because a line had been replaced. Under the house, insulation in that area was also new.

The Tragles soon discovered the new kitchen floor tile actually covered up major damage underneath.

"The most common cause of mold in homes is uncontrolled moisture," says Eric McKee, a mechanical engineer with numerous certifications and professional memberships associated with air quality. "Keeping homes painted, caulked and roofs in good condition go a long way to preventing homes from moisture damaged."

McKee's 16-page report on the house recommended stripping the kitchen down to the wall studs and floor joists, then having a mold remediation company remove the contamination according to Environmental Protection Agency standards. The Tragles employed Peerless Carpet Care and Restoration Services in Yorktown to do the work, which included using dry ice to blast off the first layer of wood, then two applications of an anti-microbial paint. The dry ice is faster and safer than using a sander or wire brush to prep the wood, says Dwayne Ward, a supervisor with Peerless. Special vacuums removed all dust particles, and an independent environmentalist tested to make sure all is well.

The Tragles consulted with a lawyer, hoping to convince the seller to cover some of the $40,000 it is costing them to put the house back together. After spending $3,000 with a lawyer, the Tragles realized they are on their own. "In Virginia, buyer beware," says Aaron.

During all this, they rented a home, stored furniture that wouldn't fit in their smaller quarters and wished things had gone differently. The Tragles hope to move into their home in early fall.

"If I had gotten that mold document in the beginning, the contract to buy the house would have been over and done with," says Aaron, shaking his head.

"The inspectors did their job. We've owned houses and know what we're doing. We want people to know what happened to us so, hopefully, others can avoid the same mistake."

Should you leave the washer running while you're gone?

In Hampton, the water problem at the Michael's Woods home of Gene and Tish Llaneza was serious, but quicker to fix and deal with in the short term.

Gene loaded the clothes washer at 7 a.m. one morning, then left for work with the machine still running. The overflow valve malfunctioned, allowing the washer to flow until his mother arrived at 2 p.m. to let the dog out. She saw water running out of the garage and down the sidewalk. A neighbor cut the water off, but not before it had flooded the entire first floor with two inches of water.

Carpets, recently installed hardwood and vinyl flooring have been removed. Parts of walls have been replaced and new cabinets are going in.

They, too, hired Peerless Restoration, which used three dehumidifiers and five fans to help dry out the house. Fortunately for the Llanezas, homeowners' insurance covers the $8,000 in damages because it was an unforeseen accident; they are upgrading some items, personally paying about $6,000 for those improvements.

Then, there was another water incident. A few days after the washer did its thing, the air-conditioner coils in the attic clogged, causing the overflow pan to drip through the ceiling.

"Thank goodness for the Lazy-Boy chair being under the ceiling," says an exasperated Tish. "It was piled with pillows that did a great job of absorbing the water."

What advice do the Llanezas have for busy households? Don't run appliances when you're not at home - and check drain systems for AC units.

"At least the washer wasn't on the second floor or the damage could have been a lot worse," says Tish.